Heath, MA – Bernard (Buck) Dale den Ouden, born on May 25, 1944, in Pipestone, Minnesota, passed away on November 15, 2025, in the den Ouden family home in Heath, Massachusetts which he and his wife built in the 1970s. His passing came after a long illness which he quietly fought with courage, grace, and an abundance of loving care from his wife of more than 60 years, Beverly den Ouden. He is also survived by his sister Arlo Bolt and a wonderful family of relatives on his side and the side of Beverly, most of whom are still living in the mid-west. Near to his heart is his daughter Nicole den Ouden, her husband Rich Hamilton (who he loved like his own son) and their two children Weston and Naomi who live in Rowe, Massachusetts. Weston and Naomi had the good fortune of growing up very close to their wonderful grandfather and grandmother. They were the apple of their grandfather's eye. Also celebrating his life at the ceremony noted below will be his son Matt den Ouden and his wife Malika and their family, who had the privilege of caring for their beloved "Papa" all last Winter in their home in Houston, Texas. Buck will be buried on top of a hill in Heath where he and the den Ouden family have long lived and consider home. Buck and Bev enjoy a broad group of wonderful friends in the area and were always deeply active in the local community, including the Heath Fair, where Buck was a perennial player in the antique tractor pull and red potato growing contests.
His professional life was as a college professor at the University of Hartford in Connecticut where he was known as "Doctor D" and adored by thousands of students over the 45 years he worked at this one college. Buck also traveled the world for decades working with NGOs and helping impoverished people, often in famine struck areas, with sustainable development that would feed or house them for a lifetime, often from things built or grown from their own hand. While a man of ideas and letters and the author of numerous books and papers, he was also a life-long farmer. He loved the land–both the fields he reclaimed with Matt for crops and the woods from which he logged the wood to build the family home in Heath.
A celebration of his life will be had on Saturday, November 22, at 1 pm, at the Heath Community Hall located at 1 West Main Street, Heath, MA. In lieu of flowers or other gifts please consider donations to the Nijs den Ouden Memorial Prize Endowment at the University of Hartford. Gifts may be sent c/o Development and Alumni Affairs, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford, CT 06117, OR Southwest Minnesota Christian Schools (Memo line: Den Ouden Writing Contest) and mailed to: Southwest Minnesota Christian Schools, 550 W Elizabeth Street, Edgerton, MN 56128. Both funds were set up by Buck and Bev to benefit a new generation of students, It is the hope of the den Ouden family that these young people will carry forward the life-long meditation by Buck which formed the title of one of his books: "Are Freedom and Dignity Possible?". Buck den Ouden found dignity and profound value in family, in hard work, in giving to others, and in the open communion of ideas (even challenging ones). He will be missed and lovingly remembered by his family and all those he touched in his long life. A life well lived!
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